I've long thought AI was overrated, and the fear of it replacing humans overblown. But the combination of AI and robotics has me rethinking. Experts seem to be split as to wether this will be a net job creator (like computers) or push vast swaths of the population out of the job market. The implications of the latter are staggering on many levels. But I think we are heading there (barring a cataclysmic event). 20k for a robot who doesn't need health care, vacation, OT, won't talk back or slack off. Tesla robots are learning to do tasks by watching humans.
Those people will become unneeded. That is one of the key problems. How long would the ethics of the new society sustain them? I think a great resentment would form between the producer class and the useless consumer class.
If a company uses AI and robots to replace employees, the company should still have to pay the federal, state, federal, and SSI taxes of the employees it replaced.
But this has been happening for years. We have CNC controlled machines which make manufactured products all the time. What used to take us hours and days or even be impossible to program now takes us minutes. So the work that used to take a team of people can now be done in a guy's garage in a one-man shop. *Edit* Not to say I disagree with you, I just don't think it'll be in anyone's best interest to try and do this on a case by case basis. I think we'll need to revamp our economic model and implement some kind of UBI to do it well...
That math doesn't work, when you're talking about half the working population. That's on top of our aging population.
In music DJs put millions of musicians out of work as did drum machines and records replaced live bands in dance clubs....we survived..there are still actual musicians carrying on the tradition
Exactly. The technology needs to be used to enhance human life, opportunities, and freedom. Not to restrict it. And that's how we should set things up here in the US. Of course there will be despots everywhere else who try to lock people down and control people. But if we protect freedom and opportunity (and our resources) the best and brightest will come here.
That's going to happen to factory workers, pilots, all kinds of professions. Edison put the kerosene lamp out of business and it was a huge biz before the light bulb...that's life. We adapt